NEW YORK: Where the White House saw a father standing up for his daughter, an ethics expert saw an implicit threat.
President Donald Trump lashed out Wednesday at Nordstrom, the latest company to draw his Twitter attention, saying the department store chain that decided to stop selling his daughter’s clothing and accessory line has treated her “so unfairly.”
Though Trump has tweeted in the past about companies such as the U.S. automakers, Boeing and Carrier, his action drew a rebuke from ethics experts saying the fact that this one was about a business run by his daughter raised conflict-of-interest concerns. Trump’s tweet follows revelations that first lady Melania Trump expected to develop “multi-million dollar business relationships” tied to her presence in the White House, according to a suit she filed.
In the tweet, Trump said, “My daughter Ivanka has been treated so unfairly by @Nordstrom . She is a great person — always pushing me to do the right thing! Terrible!” Posted first on his personal account, it was re-tweeted more than 6,000 times in less than an hour. It was also retweeted by the official @POTUS account.
Trump’s presidency has raised unprecedented concerns about ethical conflicts. His plan to separate himself from his sprawling real estate business has been criticized by ethics experts, who say it doesn’t do enough to make sure that Trump won’t make decisions to personally benefit himself, his family or his company. The first lady has yet to step away from her companies that manage her royalties from her namesake products, business documents show.
Kathleen Clark, a government ethics expert, said the Nordstrom tweet is problematic because other retailers may think twice now about dropping the Ivanka Trump brand for fear of getting criticized publicly by the president. She said it was especially disturbing that Trump retweeted his message on the official White House account.
“The implicit threat was that he will use whatever authority he has to retaliate against Nordstrom, or anyone who crosses his interest,” said Clark, a law professor at Washington University in St. Louis.
Clark defended the president’s right to use his personal Twitter account to express his views, noting that government workers recently set up alt-EPA accounts to criticize the president’s policies. “A government employee, even a president, is allowed to tweet in his personal capacity.”
Nordstrom reiterated Wednesday that its decision was based on the brand’s performance. The company said sales of Ivanka Trump items had steadily declined over 2016, particularly in the last half. The company said it had discussed the performance with brand executives over the past year “and Ivanka was personally informed of our decision in early January.”
Nordstrom shares initially dropped after the tweet, but they later recovered, closing about 4 percent higher.